All the Time in the World
by tym4change
Summary: Lily and James: snapshots from the beginning of their relationship to the end.


_Ok, for this one, I used the original idea I had in my mind, then I wrote each section to prompts from the 100 Prompts forum by xXKissingSinXx. The numbers this is written to are as follows, in order of section: #19 & 92, #86 (sort of), #29 (if you tilt your head and think like I do), #84, 40-ish. Don't know what the prompts are? Go check her forum out :)  
And yes, I realize that the first part sounds like something it's not. I didn't originally intend to write it that way, but when I reread it, I decided I liked it and kept it that way ^.^_

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All the Time in the World

"But Liiiiiiiiiiily!" There was a plea in the young man's eyes as he shook his hair out of his eyes once again.

"James, we have all the time in the world." Lily was used to this argument; James was one of those live in the moment types, whereas she knew that they would have plenty of time to be together and do what they want, without the consequences of acting upon their impulses when they were young.

"Lily! Please? I'll be your best friend!" James's pleas were quickly approaching whines, and Lily realized that, if she didn't give in soon, she'd have a grumpy, pouting sixteen-year-old on her hands. She deliberated for a moment longer, attempting to drown out the gripes of the boy lying next to her. There weren't _that _many possible repercussions, were there?

With a sigh, Lily gave in. "_Fine_. James. We can do it tonight…Just promise me you'll be cautious, okay?"

James, being the hyperactive teenager he was, jumped up and celebrated this latest of his many victories. "Yes! Lily, trust me, you're not going to regret this!" Then he leaned over and kissed her in thanks, causing her to laugh around her nerves and lay back, taking in the late summer sun out by the lake.

Soon, too soon, Lily found herself getting ready for the night with shaking hands. What if someone caught them? There were so many things that could go wrong with the plan. Well, she couldn't back out now, so she snuck into the common room, finding James already there.

"Okay, shall we go?" James asked excitedly. Seeing the light in his eyes, Lily immediately knew that she wouldn't regret this; James was so excited about it. He grabbed her hand in his free one, the one that wasn't holding The Map, and led her out of the castle and toward the lake.

"Lily! James!" they were greeted by a smug-looking Sirius with a girl on each arm, a typically flaky Peter, and a disapproving Remus that was probably entertaining the same qualms as Lily. They said their hellos in return as they neared the small bunch of people.

"Okay, is everyone ready? Ladies especially?" Sirius asked with a wink that got his dates giggling.

Lily sighed as she turned to James. "Can't you control him? Even in the slightest?"

James laughed. "Every school has a trouble maker, a rule breaker, a ladies man. He's ours." Lily gave up with Sirius, choosing to shed her nightclothes, revealing a swimsuit underneath that immediately made the guys stare and her blush.

Soon enough, everyone was down to their swimsuits and Sirius had one of his _brilliant_ ideas. "Hey, why don't we skinny dip? It would be great, huh ladies?"

Lily walked deliberately up to him and replied, "Sure. Why not?" She began to reach for the ties at her neck, then stopped. "No, I have a better idea. What about…you first!" She made a half-hearted attempt to pull down the boxers he had chosen to swim in, but he preempted her, so she turned away, laughing, and dove into the lake.

It took some convincing to get Remus into the lake, but, otherwise it was, surprisingly, smooth sailing from there. They all had some good, clean fun. Everyone, that is, except for the hopeful Sirius, who spent most of the night attempting to talk the girls out of their bikinis, to no avail. The teens made it back to their dorms with, unexpectedly, no run-ins with teachers and forevermore joked about that day.

* * *

A year and a half later, Lily and James were, once again, seated by the lake.

"Can you believe that school's almost over? I mean, we're graduating tomorrow…" Lily pointed out sadly, not wanting to give up her carefree schoolgirl times.

"No, Lily, I can't. The time's gone way too quickly." With that, he placed his hand on her cheek, to make her look at him. "And I've been thinking. I don't ever want to give up this time with you. Lily, I love you." He pulled out a small box, opening it to reveal a beautiful ring. "Will you marry me?"

"James! We have all the time in the world! Need we get engaged while we're still in school?"

"When would there be a better time? Lily, we're young, fresh, maybe even a little stupid. I want to give myself to you fully before we become old…and," he shuddered, "boring."

Lily laughed, making a quick decision. "James, you always know how to pull my strings. Yes. Yes, I will marry you!"

James jumped up, pulling Lily with him, and swinging her in his arms as he kissed her deeply.

* * *

Just over two years later, the happily married Auror couple sat in their living room together.

"James, no."

"Why not, Lily? When would there be a better time?"

"Hmm…I don't know…maybe when there _isn't_ a 'dark lord' threatening west Europe?" Lily really didn't see where James was coming from. _A baby_? When wizards were being killed left and right by none other than Voldemort? No, it wasn't a good time to bring new life into the world.

"Lily. Please. We always talked about having little ones of our own. We've built up plenty of money on our own, and we're secure in our careers. It's the _perfect time_ to have a baby!"

"We have all the time in the world to be together, to have a family." As she said this, she saw her husband's face fall into a pout. "I'm not totally giving in…how's this: we don't actively try to get pregnant, but we don't necessarily try not to. We can let whatever is going to happen…happen."

"Yes! Lily, I love you! Thank you so much!"

"Hey, I didn't promise anything." She protested before letting him pull her into a kiss.

As nature would have it, little over two months later, Lily found out she'd be having a baby. Another thirty-eight weeks later, the couple brought a beautiful baby boy into the world and named him Harry.

* * *

Another year later found the family lounging happily in the family room.

After putting the baby to sleep, Lily rejoined James on the couch. Something seemed to be troubling him.

"James? What's wrong?"

The serious man turned to his loving wife. "I love you."

"Well, that doesn't quite answer my question…but I love you too."

"I guess I've just been thinking…we're not immortal, are we? I mean, I know that Dumbledore's probably too old for me to believe, but we might not live that long, will we?"

"Honey, we're wizards. I know that we're not invincible, but we can't be killed as easily as muggles…and no one aside from those we trust knows where our new house is…we can't be in _that _much danger. We have all the time in the world."

James smiled, pulling her close and simply holding her.

But fate had something else to say, as, soon enough, the couple's door seemed to spontaneously splinter into a million shards, and they mentally kicked themselves for not being ready for anything at any given moment. James pulled Lily in for what they both knew would probably be their last kiss, told her he loved her again, and sent her off to Harry.

Sure enough, Voldemort had struck down James without a second thought, finding Lily making a feeble attempt to protect her son. As she begged him to spare her son, she found herself reflecting back upon all of those times she had told James that they had "all the time in the world," realizing how wrong she had been. She wished she had lived in the moment more, given herself to life more readily.

After more "conversation" with the evil man, she suddenly understood that she _didn't_ have any regrets. She spent her life, down to the last half hour of it, with the man she loved. She had followed the career she had always wanted and brought a baby of her own into the world. As she saw the green sparks beginning to bubble at the tip of her enemy's wand as though it was in slow motion, the only things on her mind were her love for her husband and the wish that she could somehow spare her one and only son. The green grew and swelled, finally striking and taking hold of her until she no longer could feel her nerve endings or see the menacing color, and Lily Potter died with her family the only thing occupying her mind.


End file.
